Away

Sometimes, I like to refer to plans as the paper plates of the picnic universe. You want to pile on more, you really want to get that extra chicken, that extra potato salad. Put you don’t actually do it, because you know about paper plates. If you do it, the second you sit down, that delicious stuff is going to be on your lap. And of course, you’re wearing light-colored pants.

So sometimes, no plan is the best plan of all. Kind of a zen approach.

We’ve had to play it that way lately. Everything has been on hold pending some issues. So, some days you just leave the house with no idea other than to be away. Last weekend was one of those.

And planless plans work admirably some days. We wound up taking in an excellent mining museum. They are different from most museums in that they actually run the equipment they have. There were huge steam engines chuffing and whirring, compressed air drills hammering like jack hammers, carbide lamps aflame, all to the delight of the children and amusement of the adults. Showing people a working machine is far better than pointing at a stationary hunk of metal and going “This is what this does.” We hiked a little in the Garden of the Gods. We had dinner in the belly of a converted refueling tanker aircraft.

True, it wasn’t an adventure, per se. But it did clear our heads. And it reminded us that spring was soon upon us. Given that we are expecting four inches of snow this weekend, it’s good to have a reminder.

It’s not that plans are bad, but sometimes, just simply being away is the best medicine.